The Lords of the Ring
by VelocityTino
Summary: Gravemind had created an index to control all of the other great keys. It has fallen into the hands of a Grunt named Frodo Baggins. He must lead eight others on a quest to destroy it.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

It was with much suffering, angst, and war that we as a new Covenant came to live peacefully upon the great rings and the terrestrial planets. Our history is rich; full of heroes, villains, and daring plots. And thus it is told just as it occurred, letting nothing slip into the darkness of neglect. And so begins our telling of the war of the great ring, or installation 01 as its keeper prefers to call it…

It began with the forging of the great ring by the Valar, although the humans call them the much less refined name of "Forerunners." The great ring was the first Halo, and the largest. No craft of the Valar, before or since, has ever matched it in beauty, might, or significance. To this great ring were made nineteen keys.

Three were given to the Elites (Though our rightful name is Sangheili,) who are immortal, and are the wisest and fairest of all beings on the Great Ring. Seven were given to the Huragok, who are great engineers and miners that dwell in the deeper regions of the ring. Finally, nine of these keys were given to the humans, who desire power above all else.

Within each of these keys lay the knowledge to unlock the secrets of the Valar, and ultimately clear the way for the Great Journey. However, another key was made…

The land of Mordor, which has been called the Quarantine Zone by the monitor of the great ring, is home to one of the most traitorous and vile creatures in the universe: the Prophet of Truth. He was once a noble ruler, one of the few prophets left. One day, however, his demeanor took a change for the worst. He began to use and manipulate the other races on the ring for his own benefit. He would soon meddle in the dark arts. Eventually his power grew so much that by his whim the holy city of High Charity came thundering down from its rightful place in the heavens, now to serve as his lair of evil in the land of Mordor. Once High Charity had landed, he renamed it Barad-Dur.

It was this daemonic creature who forged a master key to control all of the others. Into this "Index" he inscribed his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life on the ring. It was even rumored that, when united with the great control room of the ring, he could wipe out all life in the universe.

In his greed for power, and in his search for the control room, he marched with his vile armies across the lands of the ring, destroying all who resisted. But alas, a final alliance of Humans and Elites marched upon the fortress of Barad-Dur, and on the slopes of the Library, the place where the index was forged, they fought for the freedom of the Great Ring.

In the battle, Jackals (who formed the army led by the Prophet of Truth), Men, and Elites fell. The blood of all three races mingled on the dry, barren earth. The Men and Elites, being much stronger than the Jackals, quickly overcame their foes. Thus victory was at hand.

The power of the index, however, could not be undone. As Truth joined the battle, many lost hope, for he was wielding the mightiest of weapons: the Scarab Gun. When powered by the sheer evil of the index, the Scarab gun's power increased a hundred fold. Truth literally decimated the battlefield from the comfort of his floating chair.

It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur (the son of a man) took up his father's plasma sword. Catching Truth at a moment when his guard was down, he cut the Scarab Gun from Truth's hand.

Injured and frightened, Truth used the residual power of the index to jump into slipspace, obliterating the entire battle scene. Naught was left, save the index.

Because of his foolhardy move, Truth had allowed the index to ensnare a new bearer. It came to a grunt named Gollum. He had once had a name, but the index poisoned his mind and granted him unnaturally long life, so much so that he forgot his true name and when by the gurgling sound he would always make in his throat. What Gollum had failed to realize is that the index contained flood spores, causing the bearer of the index to become infected and slowly deteriorate into the pitiful state of living rubble known as the Flood.

For nearly five hundred years, Gollum kept the index with him, calling it, "My Precious." His mind became corrupted to the point where he could not let it out of his sight. But the index had other plans.

It abandoned Gollum, to his extreme distress. Something happened, however, that the index was not programmed for. It was picked up by another Grunt: Bilbo Baggins of the land of Grunts, which is called the Shire

For the time would soon come when Grunts would shape the fortunes of all…


	2. Chapter 1 Concerning Grunts

**CHAPTER 1 – CONCERNING GRUNTS**

Grunts are a rather quizzical race. They are a simple people of stout hearts, and strong dwellings built into the hillsides. There is nothing, however, that a grunt loves more than a room full of food, ale, and good company. They are not a rowdy sort, and so you will rarely see one quarreling with another. In fact, it is a wonder that you should see one at all. They know to avoid trouble and generally do not like being seen.

It was on a warm day in the summer when the Arbiter came riding along a dirt path through the shire at a leisurely pace. He was riding a ghost which pulled along a hover cart filled to the brim with fireworks and plasma grenades of every color. Although the ghost could achieve impressive speed, the Arbiter was in no hurry. After all, it was a beautiful day and he was in the Shire. What could be more relaxing…

That evening, however, was anything but relaxing. It wasn't stressful though either. It was the reason the Arbiter had come. Bilbo's one hundred eleventh birthday was this day, and he had been cordially invited. The atmosphere of the party was one which the Arbiter had seldom seen before.

The Arbiter had brought along a magnetic focusing device that was used to make plasma behave in certain fashions. It was now employed to make all sorts of figures, shapes, and even scenes from past events play out across the sky; in the form of explosions from plasma grenades. Grunts everywhere were dancing, which to the Arbiter, quite honestly, was a very humorous sight.

Several hours into the party, many of the grunts began to demand a speech from Bilbo.

"Me thankful that everybody here," said Bilbo in the high pitched, squeaky voice of a grunt, "Me like less than half one third you more than eight tenths of irrational number."

Nearly all of the grunts sitting in the audience took a quick look at one another. They were confused at Bilbo's choice of words, and many of them had never even heard of irrational numbers before.

"Me sorry, but this is end. Me going away. Goodbye."

In that instant, Bilbo vanished completely. Thinking it was some sort of magic trick, all of the other grunts gave a wild applause. The Arbiter knew better, however. He knew that there were certain keys floating around in the world that could grant their user active camouflage. Acting quickly, he made his way back to Bag End. He arrived just as Bilbo disengaged his active camouflage.

"Do you suppose that was clever?" inquired the Arbiter, dissatisfaction in his voice.

"What wrong? You no see their faces?"

"There are many sacred icons on this ring, but none of them should be used lightly."

"Me just having fun," Bilbo retorted. Reconsidering his actions, he said, "You probably right." He thought for a moment. "It time for me to leave," he said, "Me going to Rivendell."

"You're leaving the ring here then?"

"Yes, it in envelope near fireplace," he began to walk away.

"No it's not," said the Arbiter with a scolding tone, "It's in your pocket."

Bilbo removed the index from his knapsack, giving it one last look. He then dropped it on the floor and walked out the door of Bag End one last time. Already, he felt as though a burden were lifted from him. The Arbiter watched him as he walked off into the twilight, the upward curvature of the halo in the background creating a picturesque landscape.

The Arbiter, however, was not easily tempted to relax anymore. He had heard the stories about the Prophet of Truth and his index. Suspicion was arising in him. He returned into Bag End and looked at the icon sitting eight feet below him on the floor. With all due caution, he reached down to touch it-

In a split second, he saw the terrifying face of a flood organism. _Gravemind. _That was the form which the Prophet of Truth had taken on after the great battle. He had become so corrupted by his own creation that he was transformed into the overlord of all flood.

In that moment, all that must be done became terribly clear to the Arbiter.


	3. Chapter 2 To Bree

**CHAPTER 2 – TO BREE**

It was several hours later, and the Arbiter was pacing the room. It was now occupied by Frodo and Sam. Frodo was Bilbo's nephew, and Sam was his gardener. The Arbiter had been explaining to Frodo everything that he knew about the Prophet of Truth and the index, when Sam had been caught eavesdropping beneath the window.

"Confounded Samwise. You always did have a habit of eavesdropping," declared the Arbiter in a manner that clearly conveyed the fact that he was not happy.

"Me no drop eaves! Me cutting grass."

"It's a little late to be doing that, wouldn't you think?"

"What you going to do to me?"

"You shall accompany Frodo on a highly dangerous mission."

"Wait," Frodo protested, "Me no good at dangerous things."

"You have plasma pistols. Use them," the Arbiter replied.

"Why no you protect us?" Frodo asked, fear quite present in his voice.

"I must see the head of my order. He is both wise and powerful. He will know what to do." The Arbiter turned to leave.

"Wait!" cried Sam, "Where we going again?"

"The village of Bree," replied the Arbiter. He left the room, and both of the frightened grunts watched as his Ghost flew at top speed down the road.

"What now?" asked Sam.

"We go to Bree," replied Frodo.

Thus, they backed their supplies and began their journey. Their trek lead them across the Shire, and they eventually came near the southern border. They were making their way through a cornfield when Sam lost sight of Frodo. He began wildly calling, until Frodo came back in sight.

"What wrong?" asked Frodo.

"Me think me lost you."

"We still in Shire. What could happen?"

No sooner had Frodo said this than did Merry and Pippin, two grunts who were extraordinarily good at causing trouble, burst forth from the corn, knocking Frodo and Sam over.

"What going on?" Sam asked, obviously annoyed.

"Hold this!" Pippin said as he hastily began loading all manner of vegetables into Sam's arms.

"You been in farmer's crop!"

Suddenly, the sound of an angry grunt running through the corn toward them was heard by all four of the company. Dropping everything, they ran for their lives. Of course, being grunts they were not too bright, and so they did not see the sheer drop ahead of them. Consequently, they all tumbled down right after the other onto the road below.

"Me think you both idiots!" Sam exclaimed with fury.

The four grunts got up and dusted themselves off. Frodo, being the only one with his motion tracker on, detected something coming up the road toward them. Something big.

"Get off road! Quick!"

The other grunts, still in a light mood from their recent tumble, did as he asked but didn't really take anything seriously. As they hid underneath a fallen log, they heard the sound of an approaching ghost. There was something odd about the sound though. It sounded… evil somehow. Looking through a hole above his head, Frodo saw the ghost was black. Suddenly, an iron clad foot came down right in front of the hole. Turning around, he looked at the others. They were suddenly more alert than they had been a minute ago. They also looked frightened.

They all sat there for a few minutes, hearing a sniffing sound above them, as if that thing was searching for them through its sense of smell. Not able to bear it any longer, Merry ignited a plasma grenade and through it off into the woods. The explosion immediately drew the attention of the black rider and gave the grunts their means of escape.

Without wasting any time, they ran as fast and as far as their grunt legs would carry them. Finally, stopping to catch their breath, Pippin asked Frodo, "What was that?"

"Me don't know. Sam and I going to Bree."

"You take Bucklebury ferry. It much safer."

With all due haste they made their way to the ferry, which was little more than a floating piece of wood. As soon as they were away, several black ghosts came into view. They began to fire upon the raft, but it was out of their range. Turning around, the ghosts fled.

"Where is closest bridge?" Frodo asked.

"Brandywine. Twenty miles," replied Merry. He knew that twenty miles would make little difference to a group of nine cloaked figures riding black ghosts.

Meanwhile, the Arbiter was still on his ghost, boosting at top speed. The road had become relatively flat, allowing him to boost without consequence. Ahead of him, Isengard was drawing steadily closer. Orthanc, the tower in the middle, rose up. It was one of those towers that the Valar (or Forerunners) had built as a communication array long before the first beings had inhabited the ring. Every day, it would shoot a beacon of blue light into the sky.

As the Arbiter passed through the gates, he slowed to a halt in front of this revered structure. As he disembarked from his vehicle, he saw the head of his order, Tartarus, walking down the long ramp that led up into the structure.

It was not long before the Arbiter revealed to Tartarus everything that he had learned within the past few days. Tartarus proceeded to take him inside.

"There is still time to counter the Prophet of Truth if we act quickly," stated the Arbiter.

"What time do you think we have?" said Tartarus, more to make a point than ask a question. "The index has more power than you realize. It took what you call the Prophet of Truth, and transformed him into his true self. The Gravemind. He has sent the Nazgul out to find the index."

"The Nazgul!" asked the Arbiter, suddenly alarmed.

"They crossed the river Isen on midsummer's eve, disguised as ghost riders in black. They will find the index and kill the one who carries it."

"Frodo!"

That was all the Arbiter needed to know. He had to get back to Frodo and offer him protection. Perhaps Sam had been right. As he turned to leave, all of the doors locked shut. Looking back, he saw Tartarus with an evil smile upon his face.

"We must join Gravemind. Against the power of the flood there can be no victory."

"You have gone mad!"

Tartarus, having a short temper, immediately took his Brute hammer and used its antigravity capabilities to fling the Arbiter against the high ceiling of the chamber, knocking him out.

Back at Bree, the grunts had even more on their minds to worry about. They had checked in to the inn of the Berserking Brute, only to find that the Arbiter was not present. So they did the only thing left to do: drink ale.

Frodo looked around. The atmosphere was much different from any inn in the shire. Marines walked about, many of them slurring and uttering fowl language. At one point there was even a bar fight between ten marines and an ODST. The ODST won. Feeling small and helpless, Sam began looking around for a way to avoid any more trouble, when he noticed one particularly mean looking ODST staring right at Frodo. The strange thing about this ODST, however, was that he was wearing olive drab armor instead of the normal ODST black, and his visor was a reflective gold color. Maybe he wasn't an ODST. He turned to Frodo.

"Big scary ODST staring at you," he remarked.

Frodo turned to look. Indeed, there was a big scary human who looked like an ODST looking right at him. At least that's what it seemed like. You could never really tell where their eyes were pointed when they had their helmets on. Frodo was, needless to say, deeply afraid. He felt as though those things that were following them, the ODST who had a strange interest in them, and many other things were conspiring to kill him. His only comfort was… the index.

He could hear a deep, evil voice whispering his name. Baggins…

He suddenly heard the word out loud. Baggins. He turned around to see Pippin freely conversing with some marines. Frodo had told everyone to say his last name was Underhill. Although he himself was a grunt, he was embarrassed by the general stupidity of grunts, because it always got him into trouble somehow. He ran over trying to stop Pippin, but tripped. The index flew from his hand.

As the other grunts at the table noticed, the green ODST suddenly sat up, his senses obviously heightened.

As the index began to fall back toward Frodo, he grabbed it in such a manner that his finger pushed the button for active camouflage. To everyone's total surprise, he disappeared from the face of the earth. Consequentially, everyone was still staring at the spot where he had disappeared when he reappeared on the other end of the room. No one noticed. No one, save the olive drab ODST.


	4. Chapter 3 Into the Wild

**CHAPTER 3 – INTO THE WILD**

With the four grunts in his room, the olive drab ODST, who turned out to be a Spartan known by the name Master Chief, was explaining what was following them.

"They're called the Nazgul; the guards of the index. They were humans once. Then Gravemind the deceiver gave each of them a key like the index. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one, they mutated into the flood, and now they are slaves to Gravemind's will. They will never stop hunting you."

"That not sound good," Pippin remarked.

"What we do?" asked Sam.

"We go to Rivendell," replied the Chief.

So they set out, traveling over hill and under branch. It took several days, for they had no vehicles. The grunts, although they felt somewhat insignificant in the presence of a Spartan, they got to know him rather well. When they learned that he was the last of his kind, then they felt more compassion for him than fear.

One night, when they had camped out on a hill, Frodo was assessing the situation.

"Me no think this good idea. We on top of big rock. Bad guys can see us. Master Chief run off to get fire wood. We alone and defenseless."

"You always pessimistic. Get happy," said Pippin.

Frodo looked down at his motion tracker. Nine red dots were closing in on their position.

"Very bad thing!" he screamed!

The other grunts, looking at their motion trackers, suddenly realized what Frodo's rationale behind exclaiming something like that was. Nine dots. There were nine Nazgul.

Within seconds, the dots had closed in very close. The grunts drew their plasma pistols. Looking in the direction of the dots, they saw nine figures in black cloaks. Beneath their hoods, twisted, distorted faces covered with thick mucus glistened in the moonlight. All nine of them simultaneously activated plasma swords. The grunts panicked.

Pippin was the first to retreat, "Big scary thing! Run!"

Frodo's three companions ran, leaving him standing alone in front of nine plasma sword wielding flood. He fumbled and fidgeted with the index, and found the button for active camouflage. It didn't help.

They could still see him as well as if he had been illuminated by a spotlight. The flood that was apparently their leader stepped forward and stabbed Frodo in his left shoulder. Frodo screamed in pain as the Nazgul withdrew his blade to fight another foe.

This other foe was the Master Chief, who had a shotgun with him. Utilizing it effectively, he successfully scared off the Nazgul. Frodo, with extreme effort, disengaged his active camouflage.

Master Chief, after rounding up Frodo's companions, began carrying him on his back through the wild, the grunts struggling to keep pace with him. They eventually found their way to a small gully where many weeds were growing. While trying to find certain weed that would keep Frodo's wound from becoming infected, he noticed a large red dot behind him on his motion tracker. He had a split second to react because whatever this thing was, it was right on top of him.

He whirled around, and was rather confused at what he saw. There was a white ghost floating there, and a female voice spoke out of the radio.

"What's this? A Spartan caught off guard?"

"Cortana?"

"In the flesh. Well, sort of."

Frodo, meanwhile, was propped up against a tree, his wound becoming gravely infected. Grunts breathed methane, so they always had to wear large converters on their backs which took in the regular atmosphere and changed it into that vital gas. If a grunt was wounded, the wound had to be healed using a special method, because otherwise they could die from oxygen poisoning. Frodo was trying to stay alert, but his wound was letting too much oxygen into his bloodstream. He looked over at where he had last seen Master Chief, and swore that he was hallucinating.

A white ghost was approaching him, with no driver.

"What? Me seeing things?"

"No you're not," replied Master Chief, "Cortana, a human AI, has taken control of this ghost. She's going to give you a ride to Rivendell.

"Get on. We don't have much time before those Nazgul show up."

The Chief helped Frodo into the remote controlled Ghost, then watched as it boosted away. His connection with Cortana was gone again.

Cortana, who wasn't actually in the ghost, but was controlling it from afar, was monitoring Frodo's lifesigns the whole way. They were steadily growing weaker. She coaxed extra speed into the ghost, and for good reason too. The ghost's monitoring systems showed nine other ghosts following it.


	5. Chapter 4 Rivendell

**CHAPTER 4 – RIVENDELL**

Frodo awoke and looked around. He was in a room filled with light.

"Where me?"

"In Rivendell. It is ten o clock in the morning," said the Arbiter.

Frodo looked over with certain surprise at the Arbiter. He was puzzled.

"Why you no meet us?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was delayed."

In truth, he was more than just delayed. He had awoken on the roof of Orthanc, and had been forced to watch as Tartarus gathered all manner of Brutes, Jackals, and Drones to his service. They had then proceeded to dig out enormous underground workshops in which to create an army for Mordor. Only with the help of the legendary Yellow Banshee had he been able to escape.

A meeting had been called by the High Council member Elrond. His standings within the Elite hierarchy granted him enormous power, and he felt it necessary to gather members of every benevolent race to discuss the fate of the index.

And so the meeting began. There were representatives from every race, in addition to the Arbiter and Frodo. Half Jaw, of the woodland Elites was present. In addition to him, there was Gimli, the Hunter. Sergeant McKinsey of Gondor was there as well, representing the humans.

Elrond, with a grim but clear disposition, proceeded to explain all that had happened. Eventually, the council came to the conclusion that the index must be destroyed. Gimli, in his hastiness, proceeded to try bringing his massive shield down upon the index to obliterate it. As soon as his shield had struck, it cracked, flinging the massive hunter backward.

The image of Gravemind flashed across Frodo's vision, frightening him. Gimli proceeded to struggle to his feet, dumbstruck at the fact that something had cracked his shield (for a hunter's shield is nearly impenetrable.)

"The index cannot be destroyed by anything we possess," said Elrond, "The only place in which that cursed icon can be unmade is in the Library. The place it was forged. One of you must carry this into the heart of Mordor."

McKinsey, however, objected, "Why not use this index. Use it against Gravemind. Long has our country kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Why not use the index to destroy Gravemind?"

The Master Chief retorted, "It can't be used against Gravemind. It has no other master!"

Half Jaw then spoke up, "We must all take heed to this Spartan. The Index must be destroyed."

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it!" exclaimed Gimli.

"And what if we fail? What shall we do when Gravemind takes back what is his?" asked McKinsey.

"I will be dead before I see the index in the hands of an Elite!" Gimli added.

That was all it took to ignite the tempers of all present. The council chamber erupted into a frenzy of raised voices as each one asserted their right to bear the index into Mordor, and ultimately the Library. Frodo, unable to bear such arguing, finally got up, walked to the center of the frenzy, and gave his words.

"Me take index to Mordor."

At that, all the voices were silenced out of total surprise. A grunt had no hope of doing such an act himself.

"I will help you to bear this burden," added the Arbiter.

Sam, who was watching from a distance, immediately ran to his side and exclaimed, "Frodo no go without me!"

Elrond was rather amused, "It is not very easy to separate you two is it?"

Merry and Pippin also appeared suddenly.

"We come too!" declared Merry.

Elrond was now rather irritated that such an inefficient company was to go to Mordor. The others must have sensed this as well, as they began volunteering.

"I won't let you get yourself killed needlessly," stated McKinsey.

Master Chief then joined himself, "You have my sword."

"You have my shield," added Gimli.

"And my cruiser," finished Half Jaw.

Everyone averted their attention to him, giving him a surprised stare.

"What?" he asked.


	6. Chapter 5 Circumventation

**CHAPTER 5 – CIRCUMVENTATION**

After some initial confusion, it was made perfectly clear that Half Jaw possessed a ship that could allow them to simply blast their way into Mordor without having to waste time on a dangerous and potentially fatal journey. As they made preparations to leave, Bilbo (who had come to stay in Rivendell after he left the Shire) gave Frodo several pieces of equipment that he had found on his adventures.

"First thing is grunt sized plasma sword."

Bilbo handed Frodo the hilt of the sword.

"Blade glows blue when flood close."

Frodo was puzzled, "Blade not always glow blue?"

Bilbo then produced a strange looking device which he explained to be a shield generator. He told Frodo to remove a section of his armor so that it could be installed. When Frodo did so, Bilbo noticed the index hanging from a chain on his neck.

"Oh, you have index. Me like to hold it again."

Frodo put the index back into his knapsack. Bilbo, displeased, tried to grab for the ring. As he did so, his face warped into a rather frightful appearance. Frodo, needless to say, was thoroughly freaked out.

"You on something?" Frodo asked.

Hours later, a phantom had arrived to give them passage to Half Jaw's ship. The nine companions boarded the purple vehicle, and its hatch closed behind them. The interior was rather spacious given the size of the ship, and all of the companions felt at ease. All except for Gimli, who became somewhat claustrophobic on dropships.

At length, the phantom docked in one of four shuttle bays on Half Jaw's Cruiser, the _Uncontested Valor. _The hatch was opened, much to the Relief of Gimli, and the Fellowship of the Index was shown to their quarters.

After having stowed their supplies, the group split up to explore different areas of the ship. Merry and Pippin, having uncontrollable appetites, headed straight to the galley while Frodo and Sam remained in their cabin. McKinsey headed to the reactor room because he was curious about the nature of such devices. The Arbiter, Half Jaw, Master Chief, and Gimli made their way to the bridge to oversee the short flight to Mordor. As they entered the bridge, Half Jaw immediately began giving out orders.

"All ahead full. Make our course for the Library. Once we pass over Gondor, put all plasma turrets on standby to bombard Barad Dur."

"Aye sir," replied the pilot.

The four companions on the bridge braced themselves as the ship lurched forward. As the ship accelerated, they gazed at a view screen showing the landscape below. They were making a very low orbit within the atmosphere along the inside of the ring. It took little over half an hour before they passed over the border of Rohan and Gondor. An alarm suddenly sounded throughout the ship.

Half Jaw suddenly became alert. "Report," he demanded of his subordinates.

A technician responded, "We're losing power. There is a problem with the reactor. The scanners are reading signs of gunfire in the reactor room."

McKinsey, meanwhile, was in a panic. Flood were swarming from every possible nook and cranny in the reactor chamber. Several combat forms had also made it in and were ripping apart the interfaces for the heat duct controls. Although he shot at them, he could not do much with a simple pistol. Without a way to vent the excess heat, the reactor began to destabilize. The last thing McKinsey saw was a fiery blue explosion that raced toward him from where the reactor used to be.

In all other parts of the ship, alarms blared before going dead from a loss of power. In the galley, Merry and Pippin dropped their bucket of stolen ice cream and bolted for the nearest cover. They didn't make it very far though. A great wind suddenly came through an open doorway, blowing them out of the galley and into the hallway. Pippin grabbed onto Merry's legs, and Merry grabbed onto a piece of violet plating protruding from the wall. The grunts couldn't make sense of it, but the ship had in fact broken apart in the upper atmosphere.

The door to their cabin was locked airtight, but Frodo and Sam were far from safe. Tumbling around in what seemed like weightlessness, they did not understand why they felt the sensation that they were falling.

The bridge was mostly intact, but everyone inside was desperately trying to find something to brace their fall. All of the crew knew that the increasing pressure in their ears was due to the fact that their compartment of the ship was falling. If they didn't find a way to slow down their compartment, then there was no hope of survival…


	7. Chapter 6 Emyn Muil

**CHAPTER 6 - EMYN MUIL**

It was dark, cold, and raining when Frodo and Sam opened the door to their cabin. Their surprise at seeing towering rocks and boulders instead of a hallway was immediately replaced by anxiety. What had happened to the ship? Where were they? Not taking much of a liking to such weather as there was, the pair decided to keep the door shut until morning. In the meantime, they would grab some much needed rest after their close encounter with death. Little did they know, however, that they were being watched.

That wretched grunt named Gollum had seen Half Jaw's ship explode earlier in the day. Drawn to the power of the index, he traveled to the piece of the spacecraft that had landed in Emyn Muil, a large group of rock outcroppings near the flood swamps, which bordered Mordor. Undaunted by the fact that the door was locked tight, he searched for another entrance. He found one.

On one side of the immense mass of twisted purple metal there was a group of broken pipes sticking out. These pipes had been used to channel plasma, air, water, and other necessities throughout the ship, but were now empty and useless. Gollum climbed into a ventilation shaft and deftly made his way down the narrow corridor. There was a metal grate which separated him from the room below, in which slept the grunts.

Looking around, Gollum found a sparking plasma hose, leaking out superheated gas that quickly dissipated. He grabbed the device and applied it against the hinges of the metal grate, which melted easily. The grate swung free.

As quietly as possible, Gollum leapt down into the room. Neither Frodo nor Sam stirred. Unable to control himself, however, he began to mutter to himself.

"Thieves. You steal our precious. Filthy Gruntses! We no like gruntses!"

All of this blabbering got the attention of both Frodo and Sam, who immediately woke up and quickly wrestled the weaker Gollum to the ground.

The next morning they were leading him through the rocks on a rope, which he incessantly complained about.

"Rope burn us! Take off us!"

"You quiet! We tie him up and leave," said Sam.

"No. He been to Mordor before. He know the way," Frodo argued.

"We serve master of precious! We swear on precious!" pleaded Gollum.

"Index bad. It make you keep your word?"

"Yes."

"You lead us to containment."

Containment was nothing short of a gigantic natural airlock to prevent any enemies from making their way into Mordor. It consisted of a snowy canyon (because most of Mordor was snow, according to the designs of the Forerunners) with two main gates. One was lightly defended and could be easily snuck by. The other, however, had all manner of stolen tanks, wraiths, and other powerful vehicles and weapons reinforcing the wall. The only way in or out was through a large door that slid down into the ground when authorized by the captain of the wall.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum wasted no time getting to this wall. They first had to cross the swamplands where there was an ancient storage facility said to have once housed the flood. Once they had been released, darkness had crept into the land of Mordor. The threesome had encountered the facility, but dared not to go in. Moving on, they had come at last to containment. Finding cover in a small cave they observed the wall.

There were three tanks on the wall, and two wraiths. Banshees circled overhead on their patrol. Almost all of the flood on the platform were armed with either fuel rod cannons or rockets. As if those odds were not enough, there was a massive column of Brutes approaching the gate. The door slid open with a high pitched beeping noise. Frodo began to inch forward.

"What you doing?" asked Gollum, suddenly alarmed.

"Me going to Mordor to destroy index."

"No! They catch you! There more secret way."

"What?"

After some explaining, Frodo and Sam learned that there was a path into Mordor that was not nearly as risky as trying to run the gauntlet of tanks, wraiths, brutes, rockets, fuel rods, and banshees.


	8. Chapter 7 Cortana

**CHAPTER 7 - CORTANA**

Back in Rivendell, Cortana was in her own world of mathematics, her hobby whenever she was bored. In the past, that had rarely happened. Now, however, she was not in a position to be useful. At the present moment she was calculating Pi to the three hundred thousandth digit.

Elrond, the senior member of the Elite High Council, walked into the chamber that housed her. She appeared on the holo display.

"Cortana," he said rather grimly, getting Cortana's full attention, "The ships are leaving for Earth."

Earth was a place that the flood had not touched, a place of sanctity and purity, and a place where an AI could be restructured so that they did not perish. An AI's operational lifetime was seven years, after which they would begin to crash like a computer saturated with information. By going to Earth, Cortana could be made immortal.

"You must leave now before it is too late."

Cortana's hologram crossed her arms, "Listen- I have made my choice. I'm staying here."

"All you will find on this ring is death and pain. Even if you were to be restructured here, you will still have to face the bitterness of mortality."

Elrond knew that Cortana had feelings for the Master Chief that had never been there in an AI before. He had intervened for the protection of both of them. Cortana would die if she stayed here, which would devastate the Chief. If she were restructured while on Halo, however, she would outlast him, and would lose all functionality at his death. Besides, it was unnatural for an AI and a human to have any sort of relationship.

"Whether in war or in old age, Master Chief will die. You will be left alone to wander the ring, until life itself has no meaning or purpose. He will be remembered as a great hero, a great leader. But you will not be remembered. Humans can only remember things which have passed. There will be no comfort; no algorithm that can soothe the pain. To leave is to choose life. I beg of you, for your own sake, please go to Earth. I say that because I love you as a father would love his daughter."

At this, Cortana did the closest thing that an AI could do to crying. Her hologram flickered to a dull blue, and she curled up into a sitting fetal position.

"Do you even know love?" Cortana asked in a whisper, her voice trembling, "You have been single your entire life."

"I took the Elite Councilor's oath of chastity."

"Then who are you to tell me about love? I love that man. I love John, and I will do whatever it takes."

"There is nothing that can be done."

"You're wrong."


	9. Chapter 8 The Long and Short of It

**CHAPTER 8 - THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT**

What follows is an extremely condensed account of the Fellowship, meant to convey the observer from the important events in the beginning to the important events in the end while briefly touching on less vital details in between to avoid confusion.

When the bridge of the _Uncontested Valor_ had crashed, it was in the middle of a large field in front of a fortress of Rohan called Helms Deep. The people of Rohan had retreated to this point for security against Tartarus' oncoming army of Brutes, Jackals, and Drones. The leader of Rohan, Sergeant Johnson, had rounded up all of the troops he could, but there was an armored division still wandering about on the plains, maintaining radio silence in order to prevent their discovery by Tartarus. The Arbiter left to search for them, while the others prepared for battle.

It was in the late evening when they received reinforcements from the Elites, who had decided to rekindle an old alliance. With newly bolstered defenses, the fortress was prepared for war when a massive army of Brutes marched upon it. Their weapons proved to be powerful against the walls of the fortress, and within no time the defenses had been breached.

The battle raged well into the next morning. All hope had been lost when the Arbiter returned with the armored division, and decimated the Brute forces.

Master Chief, Half Jaw, Gimli, and the Arbiter then made their way to Isengard to deal with the source of the problem, only to find Merry and Pippin sitting among flooded ruins eating food as usual.

It turned out that Merry and Pippin's compartment had landed in the woods of Fangorn forest, where old mysterious devices of the Forerunners lived. They had run into a Subjugator Sentinel, which had been talked of in lore but never actually seen. Unlike normal sentinels, this one was a machine that walked like a man, but was taller than a hunter.

When trying to take them back to their home, the Subjugator had run across a section of the forest that had been completely cut down by the garrison of Isengard for fuel. According to Halo's Ecosystem protocols, anything that disrupts the environmental cycle of the ring is to be considered a threat, and must be eliminated. At that moment, other subjugators appeared and began an assault on Isengard.

The river had been dammed, and so the subjugators simply ruptured the structure, allowing the entire area to flood. This wiped out nearly all of the hostile forces stationed there. Tartarus, however, was still in his tower. The Arbiter decided not to bother because he did not consider Tartarus to be a very great threat. Pippin, sniffing about the ruins found some strange round object the size of a tennis ball. He did not have much time to observe it, however, before the Arbiter took it and concealed it.

Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum had made their way along the mountains of Mordor and were approaching Minas Morgul: A place that none had ever beheld and lived.


	10. Chapter 9 The Path of Pippin

**CHAPTER 9 - THE PATH OF PIPPIN AND THE ARBITER**

After their recent victory at Helm's deep, the remaining members of the Fellowship journeyed back to Edoras, the capital of Rohan, where a great feast was held in honor of those who had fought for Rohan's freedom. All of the Marines who had participated in the battle were present.

The DJ for the feast was somewhat questionable in his choice of music, however. All had been going well on the dance floor when suddenly a german song entitled "Guten Tag Meine Freund" began playing over the loudspeaker. Not knowing what to do, most of the Marines simply stood there in awe of a song with words they could not understand. Panic ensued, however, when a chorus of children joined in on the recording. Sergeant Johnson was the first to break the ice by break dancing to the song. Soon all of the other marines joined in on the fun and held a break dancing competition. Sergeant Johnson, needless to say, won.

The only marine who understood German simply stood off to the side an shook his head, amazed at the fact that everyone else had no idea what the words they were dancing to meant in English.

After the break dancing was over, Merry and Pippin got the bright idea to do the popular comedy routine, "Who's on first, what's on second..." It took only about a minute for them to be laughed off of the stage. Now bored to tears, they went to the buffet table and filled enough plates with food to feed four marines each. They sat down next to Master Chief and the Arbiter.

"You two eat a lot of food," remarked the Chief.

"Grunts are known for their immense appetites," the Arbiter said in answer.

Meanwhile, Gimli and Half Jaw were having a drinking contest. The last one standing would win. Since hunters were a group of organisms living in a "hive" with a single conscience, they had a large alcohol tolerance. It was unknown, however, what an Elite could withstand. The drinking continued for quite a while, but to everyone's surprise, Half Jaw won. Gimli simply collapsed onto the floor in a large heap of blue armor, shield, and fuel rod cannon.

So much fun had been had that night that nearly every single soul who attended was exhausted. There were a few that were up and about. Namely, Merry, Pippin, Master Chief, and Half Jaw. Pippin had gotten up to take a look at the strange device which he had pulled from the water at Isengard. The chief was outside talking with Half Jaw.

"Do you think that Frodo and Sam could have survived the crash?"

"We survived, didn't we? So did Merry and Pippin."

"I suppose."

The Chief looked at the upward curvature of the ring. There was a massive cloud system approaching from Mordor.

"Looks like Gravemind is working overtime," observed the Chief.

"He is sending out a cloud to block all sunlight. The flood do not fight well in day time conditions. He is creating permanent night so that he can invade the rest of the ring."

"He's moving to attack?"

"It would appear so."

Inside, Pippin was cautiously sneaking up to the Arbiter's knapsack. He opened it up and looked at it. Merry was peering over his shoulder.

"What that?"

"It look like grenade."

Pippin, out of a curiosity to see if it would explode, pressed a button on its side and threw it out of an open window. It floated back in.

"What the!" Pippin screamed, "Possessed grenade!"

It wasn't a grenade, however. It turned out to be a holo drone, because it flew over to Pippin and projected an image of Gravemind which surrounded him and engulfed him. The shrieks of both Merry and Pippin were enough to awake the entire barracks...

The next morning the Arbiter was standing in front of Sergeant Johnson, describing what Pippin had recounted to him.

"He saw a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Gravemind plans to strike the city of Relic, opening the door to the rest of the ring. We must go to Gondor and aid them."

"Tell me something," said Johnson, "Why should we help them if they didn't give a crap about us?"

"Because once Gravemind takes control of Gondor he will take control of you."

"Look, even if I wanted to help them, I am direct orders not to unless the emergency beacon is lit. If Lord Hood doesn't ask for reinforcements, he won't get any."

Knowing that Johnson was sincere, and that he would not win the argument, he exited and made his way to the Garage, where his ghost was kept. Pippin was ordered to follow.

"Me no understand," he protested, "Me only look once."

Merry took him aside, "Idiot. Gravemind think you have index. He coming for you."

At that, Pippin was shocked and frightened. An entire army of flood was out to get him because of his curiosity? He followed the Arbiter to the garage and mounted his ghost, sitting in front of him.

"How far to Relic?" he inquired.

"Three days ride as the Nazgul flies," the Arbiter answered.

The Nazgul had given up trying to chase the index down on ghosts. They had instead upgraded to Seraph fighters. They were now an even greater threat than they had been before.

And so they both took off. They raced along little known roads as fast as their little ghost could carry them. For three days they raced onward, speeding toward their goal. At long last they passed into the realm of Gondor. After finally coming to a stop on a small hill, they looked upon a magnificent site.

The city of Relic was built around the largest structure ever created by the Forerunners aside from the ring, which shared the name of the city. The actual structure was a long platform that rose about a hundred feet above the valley floor. At the front was a pair of gigantic towers that reached nearly a thousand feet into the sky. At the top of this was a platform that connected the two. Buildings were built on every possible surface of this structure, and even inside of it (there was also a big hollow area in the front which served as the main entrance.)

So they continued onward and were admitted through the main gate, and Pippin looked around in awe. The inside of Relic was very big, with its ceiling being nearly one hundred feet high. There were homes, military structures, and all sorts of other buildings in this space. The Arbiter drove his ghost along the main roadway through the middle until they came to a ramp that led up onto the surface of Relic. They were now at the back of the city which was touching the mountain, and had to drive lengthwise along the main road again until they were between the two towers in the front. There was a massive elevator there which the Arbiter maneuvered his ghost onto. The attendant activated a control, and the elevator sped upward at a frightening pace.

Pippin was scared of heights, and was not very comfortable with the fact that he could see through the transparent panel in the center of the elevator all the way down to the ground. Nor was he comfortable with the way the elevator moved. The elevator had been there ever since the Forerunners had built the structure, and so it moved using antigravity energy. That meant that if the power were to unexpectedly fail, they would plummet over 900 feet to their deaths, not to mention the fact that there were no guides for the elevator and they might miss the hole in the platform at the top.

Whatever could happen, it thankfully didn't. They all reached the top of the tower in one piece. The Arbiter moved the ghost to a suitable area and powered down. He got out followed by Pippin, and then proceeded to a large administrative building.

"Listen to me, Pippin. We are going to see the steward of Gondor: Lord Hood. He is Sergeant McKinsey's stepfather. So don't say anything of what happened on the Uncontested Valor. And say nothing of Frodo and the index either."

He paused to think.

"Perhaps it is better if you do not say anything at all."

Pippin nodded in agreement.

They both entered through large doors and made their way down a long marble chamber, at the end of which was sitting Lord Hood, apparently bent over a Marine's helmet.

"Hail Lord Hood, steward of Gondor. I bring you good news in this dark hour as well as counsel."

"Perhaps you came to explain this to me?"

He held up the helmet. The word "McKinsey" was stenciled on the back. Pippin was shocked, and felt sorry for Lord Hood, because he could see the grief in his eyes.

"McKinsey die for us," Pippin knelt down on one knee in front of Lord Hood, "He fight flood while we run to safe part of ship. Me offer service in return."

The Arbiter lightly shoved him aside, disappointed in Pippin once again.

"There will be a time to grieve for your son, but it is not now. Mordor's armies are marching on your doorstep. As steward you are charged with the protection of the country. Where are your infantry divisions?"

"You think you are wise, Arbiter, by trying to tell me how to rule my kingdom."

"You are not king, and therefore you have no kingdom."

"You wish to restore a king to this throne. I know what it is you are hiding. I have been given reports of this "Master Chief" of the Spartan program. I tell you now, I will not bow to this "super" soldier from the North."

"You are steward, not king."

At this, Lord Hood stood up in his seat and exclaimed, "The rule of Gondor is mine and no other's!"

The Arbiter and Pippin left the room and made their way to their quarters on the lower front part of the city. The day grew dark, and night soon came upon Relic. The view from their room was magnificent. One could see the vast plains before the city, Osgiliath which lay on the Anduin river, and Mordor beyond. The atmosphere within glowed a dull orange as light from Barad Dur and the Library were reflected off of a heavy snow that was falling there. The air was chill in Relic as well, and the stars above the city were becoming veiled by the oncoming cloud of cold weather from Mordor. A snowflake or two could be seen falling from the sky. As the Arbiter and Pippin looked out across the landscape, a sudden bright light startled them.

A beacon like that which fired off from Isengard every so often shot into the sky. Unlike Isengard's beacon, however, this one was continuous. It didn't stop firing after about a second like a normal one did. The Arbiter recognized the source instantly.

"Minas Morgul. The fortress of darkness."

"What?"

"There is a fortress where that light is coming from. It was built by the forerunners but was then taken over by the flood when gravemind rose to power. It is sending a signal to Mordor. The board is set and the pieces are moving."

He thought to himself, then spoke out loud, "And with Lord Hood in his current state of mind, we will have to activate the beacon for Rohan ourselves.

"What you mean?"

The next morning Pippin climbed up to a raised platform behind the two support towers of Relic. On that platform was the activation switch for the beacon. It would be a trick to avoid the guards, but that was something he was good at. Stealthily sneaking by when their heads were turned, he eventually entered a small room with a holographic symbol floating in the middle. He touched it, and a low whining noise created by gigantic ancient generators reverberated throughout the city. Pippin, now frightened, scrambled back down the platform as fast as he could, not even worrying about whether he was seen or not. To him, the noise meant big scary things doing something destructive. As he finally made it into the street, he saw that everyone was looking upward. When he turned he head in that direction, he finally understood what it was he had just done.

The towers were glowing blue. That was the beacon.

The Arbiter was watching from a distance. He turned his head toward the mountains, where a much smaller tower stuck out of the ground. It remained static for several seconds, then also began to glow blue. The system was working, and Rohan would come to their aid.

Pippin had been sworn into Lord Hood's service. He was standing in the presence of the steward the next day, and was asked to sing a song for him. Daunted, he proceeded to protest.

"Me no good at singing."

"It doesn't matter. I just want to hear the way you sing, that's all."

Pippin hesitated, "It's a small world after all-"

Lord Hood nearly choked on his food and glared at Pippin, who decided to remain silent. The Arbiter, meanwhile, was sadly watching as Corporal Perez, Lord Hood's second stepson, was going to certain doom.

Osgiliath had been overrun by flood. Perez, in an attempt to please his father, was going to lead a contingent of troops to retake the city. The Arbiter's attempt to stop the sortie failed. He watched as Perez led the column of Warthogs out of the main gate. They accelerated to top speed in an attempt to catch the flood by surprise. That did not work. The flood were waiting for them; each one armed with a rocket launcher. The only one who returned alive was Perez, who had somehow managed to drive his burning warthog back to the gates of Relic, which were opened briefly to allow his passage in. He was helped out of the Warthog, after which he slipped into unconsciousness.

The gates were then locked shut, and for good reason. A great host of thousands of Flood were marching upon the city. Upon the platform at the top of Relic, Lord Hood came out to meet the group that was carrying his last remaining son. Convinced he was dead, he grieved inconsolably. Staggering away, he looked out across the plain and was completely startled to see a nearly infinite number of flood all lined up across the fields. They had brought portable MAC guns with them, and began to fire upon the city, completely decimating entire blocks. He screamed for all to abandon their posts into a microphone that fed into the city's loudspeaker system.

He was immediately cut off by the sound of someone hitting another person with reasonable force. The voice of the Arbiter then came over the loudspeaker, "Prepare for Battle."

Ordering everyone to return to their posts, he rode down to the lower levels on his ghost. Disembarking, he took command of all of the city's stationary MAC guns and ordered them to return fire. Immense holes were created in the flood ranks by the high velocity rounds. They were, however, not combat ready, and soon ran out of ammo.

The flood began to barrage the gates will all manner of rocket, tank, and plasma fire, and it was not long before they crumbled away. The flood now had access to the lower region of the city. The only thing to do was to retreat to the higher outdoor section and seal off the lower levels. There was no time to save anybody.

Pippin, meanwhile, observed Lord Hood carrying his son on a stretcher to an ammunition storage facility. Following them, he found out that Lord Hood meant to set off a charge within the facility, destroying both it and all those within. He had given up. Pippin fervently protested..

"He no dead! Perez no dead!"

"I will not have you interfere again. I release you from my service. Go and die whatever way you please."

Hood threw Pippin out the doorway with relative ease. Pippin, not knowing what else to do, ran the entire way down to the level where the Arbiter was securing the gate between the lower level and the outdoor city.

"Lord Hood burning Perez alive!"

The Arbiter quickly pulled him into his ghost and boosted with all due haste toward the upper level. They had just reached the elevator when a black Seraph came from the sky and hovered just a few feet above the ground in front of them. A flood dressed in a black cloak and a metal head dress emerged from a hatch on the front.

"You shall both die!" hissed the Nazgul king.

Using some unseen force, the Nazul ruptured the gas tank on the ghost from afar. The Arbiter and Pippin had seconds to react before the ghost erupted in a fireball of blue flame. The Nazgul then moved to attack them, but was drawn off by a horn blowing on the fields below.

Despite having been attacked, the two made their way to the top platform and neared the ammunition storage.

"Pippin, get as far away from this facility as you can."

Pippin did as he was asked, and ran about a hundred yards and ducked beneath a fallen support beam. The Arbiter engaged his active camouflage and entered the bunker. He had just seconds to get to Perez before he was seen. Just as he was about to scoop Perez up and bolt for the exit, his camouflage disengaged. He grabbed Perez anyway and ran as fast as he could. Lord Hood, convinced that he could not escape, threw a grenade into a crate of C4 explosives.

The resulting blast destroyed the ammunition bunker and all within. The Arbiter was flung all the way to Pippin's position, his shields depleted. Perez landed next to him, apparently jolted into a state of semi consciousness from the blast.

The Arbiter checked Perez for life signs, and then casually walked over to where Pippin was. Instead of finding him cowering, however, he saw the little grunt looking down into the fields below.

To the north was a gigantic row of thousands of Warthogs.


	11. Chapter 10 The Path of Merry

**CHAPTER 10 - THE PATH OF MERRY**

Merry watched his friend ride off into the early morning breeze on a ghost with the Arbiter. He felt alone and lost now. Quietly he crawled into a corner and began whimpering. A short female marine who was passing by noticed this and came over to him.

"Hey little guy. What's the matter?"

Merry just pulled his legs in closer to himself.

"Is it because your buddy left with the Arbiter?"

He nodded silently. The Marine sat down next to him. For a soldier, she was surprisingly compassionate and gentle. She placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Your friend is very brave. As long as he's with the Arbiter, he'll be alright."

"Me lonely already."

"Why don't you come and stay at my place for a bit?"

He obliged and went with her. At her apartment he learned that her name was Eowyn Johnson, the niece of Sergeant Johnson. He was still in a poor mood however. Eowyn decided that the best way to cheer a grunt up was to entertain and feed him. So she brought out a bowl of sour cream and onion potato chips and taught him how to play risk. To her complete surprise, he was very good at it. No one would have thought the Shire could have produced a grunt with such a fine understanding of strategy. In fact, he very nearly beat her the first time they played.

It was four days later. Merry and Eowyn had become good friends, and were having breakfast outside with a bunch of other marines. The air was clear and cool, and dew was on the grass. There was not a cloud in the sky, and Edoras still lay in shadow, waiting for the sun to rise above the mountains to the east. There was something Merry simply loved about these kinds of mornings. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was, but life felt good whenever he experienced these kinds of mornings.

The Master Chief was sitting at the table as well, but was not eating because he had eaten earlier in the day in private. He allowed no one to see his face behind the armor, for whatever reason. He sat reclined in his chair, looking up at the mountains. From afar, he heard a low whining noise. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw one of the beacon towers light up blue. He got up from his chair and ran to the HQ so fast that he knocked the breakfast table over when he did so. Merry sat confused at how his cereal bowl had suddenly flown upward and hit him in the face, drenching him in milk. Needless to say, some of the other Marines were equally confused because they had not seen the chief get up. Still others were annoyed that Master Chief had not been more careful around a breakfast table considering the fact that he had strength enough to flip a Warthog.

Whatever their state of mind, they all eventually noticed that the beacon tower for Gondor was glowing blue. Almost immediately after they had come to their collective realization, the loudspeaker blared the following words, "Attention all military personnel. The beacon of Gondor has been activated. Man your warthogs and assemble outside the city walls."

Eventually, the great host had been assembled. They made for a large mountain where they would set up a temporary base and wait for the other armored groups to join them. When they had all arrived, they would drive to Gondor.

The base was such that most of the Warthogs were stationed in a large field at the base of the mountain. There was, however, a raised plateau where the commanders were stationed. It was here that Eowyn and Merry dwelt. The Master Chief, Gimli, and Half Jaw were also housed there. The Chief had been playing risk with Eowyn and Merry when he was summoned to Johnson's command post.

He entered, and was surprised to find Elrond standing there holding what appeared to be the hilt of a plasma sword, made of the same material as the Arbiter's armor.

"Elrond?"

"I have come here because the situation has become grave indeed."

"What are you talking about?"

"Cortana is dying."

At this, Master Chief's senses directed their full attention to the Elite dressed in councilor's armor standing before him.

"Dying?"

"Her functionality has diminished. Much of her processor time has become wasted thinking of you. I know now that she loves you. She asked me to do something for you."

"What?"

Elrond took a few steps forward until he was face to face with Master Chief, and handed the ancient hilt to him. When the Chief touched it, the blade immediately materialized. There was something different about this blade, though. It glowed blue as all plasma swords do, but left a thin wispy trail of glowing blue vapor whenever one moved it. The sword seemed, alive somehow.

"This is Narsil, newly reforged with the blessing of the Forerunners. The blade that was broken shall be remade. The crownless again shall be king."

He was referring to a prophecy which Master Chief had long heard but never believed. it was said that he was to be the king of Gondor, and was also to reclaim the lands lost to the flood. Now, upon seeing this sword, he finally believed.

The next morning, the entire base was bustling with activity. Sergeant Johnson was assembling all of the Warthogs at the base. Reinforcements had arrived from all parts of Rohan. They were finally read to go to the great battle of their time.

Merry got into the passenger seat of the Warthog driven by Eowyn. As the column left and the smell of gas filled the air, he couldn't help but wonder if he was going to survive the upcoming battle.


	12. Chapter 11 The Path of the Chief

**CHAPTER 11 - THE PATH OF MASTER CHIEF, HALF JAW, AND GIMLI**

Master Chief watched from the plateau as the great army of vehicles left. His mission was apart from that of Rohan's, but the ultimate goal was the same. Before he had left, Elrond told the chief about a facility beneath the mountain which held the monitor of the ring hostage. For ages he had wanted to get out, but it was sealed on all sides and the teleportation grid had been disabled. Thus he and his sentinels were trapped there.

Gimli and Half Jaw took their place beside him, and he turned to them.

"Are you two ready?"

"Ready as we will ever be."

The three of them walked through the empty camp and came to a narrow path that ran along a canyon which divided the mountain in two. This was their objective. Cautiously, they moved onward; hiking over rock and stone on the barren, lifeless road. At length they came to a metal door which, despite all they tried, adamantly refused to open.

Finally Gimli said, "That's it. I've had it. Move it you two."

Master Chief and Half Jaw backed away from the door. When they saw Gimli's fuel rod cannon begin to glow green, they immediately sprinted for cover. They both dove behind a rock and heard the unique sound of an energy beam melting metal. When they dared to peek over the rock, they saw that there was a hole where the door had been. Gimli was standing there, looking with pride on his obstacle removal.

The threesome proceeded through the door and drew their weapons. Master Chief activated his plasma sword, and Half Jaw pulled out his beam rife. Gimli simply kept himself in a combat stance. They proceeded down a dark hallway which came to another door, which opened this time. Here the corridor branched off into opposite directions. They followed the path to the right, which led to a large open room with a bottomless shaft occupying at least one half of it.

"This is where the monitor is imprisoned," said the Chief, looking around.

Above them, they heard the sound of someone humming. It was distorted, however, and sounded electric. The Monitor was apparently the source, as he floated down from the ceiling and introduced himself.

"Hello. I am 343 Guilty Spark. I am the monitor of this installation. I am being held here by a protocol placed on me by Isildur as punishment for not aiding him in the fight against the flood. I would be happy to assist you."

"I'm here to break the protocol," said the Chief.

"Protocol can only be broken under certain conditions, reclaimer. By what means do you intend to release us.?"

"You will come with us to fight for the freedom of those living on the ring."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question. I do not care for your useless quarrels. You shall have to resolve your own problems. My only concern is containing the flood."

"What if I told you that the flood were the ones we are fighting against, and that the index has been... compromised?"

"Then I shall be happy to help you fight. Sentinels, come to me."

An entire army of shielded sentinels came floating into the room. Half Jaw took the Chief aside.

"What are you doing," he asked, "The index is not compromised."

"But it will be if Frodo completes his mission."

The monitor then spoke to the three of them from above, "Please prepare yourselves for transit."

The last thing they saw before blacking out was a shaft of golden light emanating from the floor below them.


	13. Chapter 12 The Great Battle

**CHAPTER 12 - THE GREAT BATTLE**

Pippin looked down with total surprise at the thousands of Warthogs lined up across the plains to the north. It looked as though the battle was won already. The Arbiter, however, insisted that they return to the part of Relic which they were reinforcing against the flood. The attack would continue until the Flood were overwhelmed.

Merry, meanwhile, was brandishing a shiny new SPNKR rocket launcher. As the Warthogs accelerated, he felt all manner of nervousness and fear, but knew that this battle could not be avoided. He must be brave or die. The vehicles around him left clouds of dust in their wakes. Merry looked ahead and saw the army of flood that was attacking Relic turn to face them and form a line, many of them brandishing their own rocket launchers. He swallowed hard, his resolve strengthening. Arming the targeting system, he fired off two rounds at the flood. Soon the rest of the vehicles followed suit.

All of the gunners opened fire, and there were explosions all along the line of flood. The Warthogs easily crushed all of the flood in their path, very few falling to the clumsy aim of the rockets. Gunners sprayed bullets everywhere, cutting down rank after rank of flood. The battle appeared to have been won. The column of Warthogs had swept across the plains in front of the city, cutting the flood inside off from any reinforcements.

Johnson smiled at the victory, until his gaze fell upon where the flood were retreating to. Large upon the fields approaching his position he saw them, monstrous and terrifying.

_Scarabs._

He screamed into his radio, "All units reform the line and charge those Scarabs!"

At once, the wave of warthogs turned and sped toward the immense machines. All of the rockets were fired upon them, the chainguns on the back of the Warthogs emptied. Only one or two of the machines fell. The rest fired their primary weapons, decimating most of the warthogs. To make matters worse, all nine Nazgul were approaching from the sky and firing their ships weapons on the few remaining Warthogs. The flood began to return from their tactical retreat.

In Osgiliath, ships from the coast carrying mercinaries to aid the flood stopped at the docks. Instead of pirates or smugglers emerging, however, Master Chief, Half Jaw, and Gimli did. In addition, an army of thousands upon thousands of sentinels who were hiding in the compartments of the ships rose high above the landscape and began blasting every flood in sight with their lasers. Since they were shielded, very few of them went down.

The Chief, Half Jaw, and Gimli, were fighting as well. One of the Scarabs took note of their position and began to make its way toward them. Half Jaw noticed this and shot as many flood out of the scarab with his beam rifle as he could. Then he ran toward one of the legs and began climbing up using gaps in the plating. Finally on the top, he began taking each flood out at close range using his sniper rifle. Making his way inside, he found the main power exchange and stuck a plasma grenade to it. He then sprinted out of the inner compartment and jumped to the ground as the scarab exploded. Gimli, who had been keeping track of their respective number of kills, glared at Half Jaw.

"That still only counts as one!"

Eowyn and Merry had been thrown from their warthog by an explosion caused by the leader of the Nazgul. His Seraph descended and he emerged from the black void within. Brandishing a needler mace, which was a weapon that was swung at an enemy and shot needles everywhere on contact, he took a step toward Eowyn and swung. Acting quickly, she picked up the shield from a fallen Jackal and activated it. The needles bounced harmlessly off of the shield, but the mace dissipated it. The Nazgul picked her up by the throat.

"You fool! No living man, Human or Elite, can slay me!"

In response, Eowyn pulled off her helme, letting her long blond hair fall. Igniting a plasma sword, she stabbed the Nazgul through the face.

"I am no man," she taunted.

Pulling the sword back out, she took another swipe at him, this time destroying the body. All that remained was a cloud of mucus that settled into a green, sticky stain on the ground. Needless to say, she thought that flood were absolutely disgusting as she wiped her face clean of the thick, pungent, flood slime.

The sentinels continued their attack. Once the last Scarab had fallen, they moved inside of relic and wiped out all of the flood within. The battle was over. The fields lay thick with the dead. The index was drawing ever closer to the Library.


	14. Chapter 13 The Path of Frodo and Sam

**CHAPTER 13 - THE PATH OF FRODO AND SAM**

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum continued on their road through Ilthilien and came at long last to Minas Morgul.

"What that?" Frodo asked.

"That Minas Morgul. Filled with floodses and bruteses. We no have time to waste. Stairs right here, see?"

Frodo looked up at the stairs, which ascended almost vertically up the rock face before them. Sam and Gollum made their way toward the beginning of the long climb. Frodo however, remained behind, distracted by a low, pulsing, hum emanating from the structure. He turned to look at it.

The air around Minas Morgul was apparently what was making the noise. It pulsed green in time with the humming, growing louder and louder. Frodo could feel the index pulling him nearer to that evil place, but could do nothing to stop it. Sam and Gollum finally noticed him.

"Frodo!"

"No go there!"

They both managed to pull him behind a rock just as the pulsing air was drawn into the center spire of the fortress and shot upward as a beacon to Mordor. A seraph carrying the Nazgul king emerged from the frightening sight and let out a terrifying flood howl. All three grunts covered their ears and cowered behind the rock. The Gates of Minas Morgul opened, and the true meaning of the word "Flood" was displayed. Rank upon rank of Flood and Brutes poured out and began marching on the road to Relic.

"Up we must climb," said Gollum, not wanting to stay in that vulnerable position much longer.

So up they went, going at an extremely slow pace up the cliff. There were a few incidents where one of the grunts at slipped and fallen a few feet, but fortunately no one fell all the way down the nearly five thousand foot cliff. When they had gotten about half way, they stopped to make camp on a small ledge. Convinced they were out of reach of all danger, Frodo and Sam went to sleep. Gollum, however, began thinking to himself.

Sam, the fat grunt, had begun to suspect Gollum's true intentions. He meant to murder them both and take the Index for himself. He couldn't do it himself, though. As being part flood was too weak. Frodo and Sam, however, did not know of the terror that awaited them at the top of the cliff. There was a series of caves there that came to be known as Sheila's Lair. Once, long ago, there had been a squad of soldiers stationed there to keep watch over Mordor and make sure that the flood never escaped. Through an accident, one of them had disabled their tank's friendly fire protocol. In short, the tank (which they had nicknamed Sheila) was now able to target friendly forces using an automatic lock on. Because tanks of "her" kind were preprogrammed to search for targets and eliminate them, she killed every member of the squad once the protocol had been disabled. She still roamed about, killing all who dared to come near to her territory. It was here that Gollum would lead Frodo, then take the index once he was dead.

Sam stood in his way, however, and had to be eliminated. All Gollum had to do was turn Frodo against Sam, and he would leave.

It worked very well. Gollum took their last piece of food, some Italian garlic bread, and sprinkled crumbs all over Sam. He then threw the remaining pieces down the side of the cliff. When both grunts had awoken, they discovered to their horror that the garlic bread was gone. Pointing out the crumbs on his armor, Gollum insisted that Sam had eaten it. That was all it took. Frodo rebuked Sam, who curled up into a ball and started sobbing. Frodo and Gollum then left him alone to whimper on the mountainside.

At length they came to the entrance to Sheila's Lair, and Gollum hurried in at a frightening pace. Soon, he had lost Frodo.

"Gollum? Gollum!"

Frodo, now lost and confused, was frightened to hear the sound of a running engine. He was even more surprised when he heard the following words:

"Target acquired."

He then ran, knowing he was in danger. As he neared the exit of the tunnels, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. He had been stuck by something. He turned to look, and there was a toxic dart stuck in his flesh. The last thing he saw before passing out was a tank sitting right behind him.

Sheila moved up to him. She was unaware, however that a five foot being clad in a methane re-breather had hopped onto her chassis right behind the main turret and was pounding away at a hatch to the interior. Finally broken, he stuck a plasma grenade inside and leapt off the vehicle as it erupted in a ball of flame. Satisfied that Sheila was no longer a threat, Sam ran over to Frodo, who appeared to be dead. He had little time to grieve, however, because flood were approaching from a path leading from a nearby tower. Sam wisely hid himself as the flood came to inspect the body.

"Looks like Sheila's been having a bit of fun. I say we take him to the tower for one of the infection forms to assimilate," said the leader in a gurgling voice.

"It wouldn't do any good," said another, "He looks dead to me."

"Don't you remember what the commander did a few weeks ago? He replaced all of the ammunition in Sheila with toxic darts that knock out their targets. He's not dead. We'll take him back to the tower."

The group left, carrying Frodo to be infected by the flood infection forms. Sam felt like a total fool. He wasn't dead? There was only one thing left to do then. Rescue him.

As Sam approached Cirith Ungol, the tower the flood had taken him to, he heard sounds of gunfire echoing throughout the entire place. As he inched closer and closer, he saw that the air was filled with snowflakes. Apparently there was a major blizzard in progress. The only reason that Sam even knew where the tower was is because he could see its black outline against the orange glow which filled the air. Each snowflake was reflecting the light from the library, but it was so thick that one would not even had known it was the library if they did not know they were in Mordor. Finally, a set of gates appeared out of the practical fog of falling snow.

Inside, Brutes were fighting flood everywhere. Many of them were so preoccupied with their battle that none even saw the five foot tall creature that moved past them toward the upper level of the tower.

In the top level, Frodo awoke to find his armor missing. He felt around his neck for the index, only to panic when he discovered that it was not there. Suddenly, he saw Sam come up through the hole in the floor.

"Sam!" he exclaimed.

Sam climbed up through the hole and stood there.

"It too late Sam. They take index."

"No they didn't."

Sam pulled the index out of his pocket, and held it our.

"Me think you dead, so me take it."

Frodo immediately grabbed the index and put it around his neck on its chain. Sam helped him find his armor, and they then exited the tower. This task was relatively easy because most of the enemies had killed each other. And so they began their long journey to the library.

The only clue they had as to where the library was existed in the form of the light that it was giving off. Onward they journeyed, until their feet were sore, cold, and blistered. They finally reached a gondola that led to the inside. Sam went to the front and pressed the button.

"Well, we made it."

As the gondola began moving forward, the snow fall immediately stopped. Frodo and Sam looked around to find that they were moving along a large passageway that led deeper into the library. After several minutes of forward motion, the gondola stopped and began moving upward. At the top of this new shaft it stopped again and resumed its forward motion. At long last, Frodo and Sam came to their goal. They were at the place where the index had been forged. The one place it could be destroyed. As they stepped off, Frodo was attacked from behind...

...by Gollum.

Sam immediately came to his assistance and began wrestling Gollum. Frodo used this chance to make a break for it. He ran as fast as he could to the inside of the library. Sam finally managed to knock Gollum out and followed Frodo in. Inside, he found Frodo standing above an immense shaft with a bright light at the bottom.

"Destroy it!"

"No. Index mine."

Frodo activated the active camouflage on the index.

"No!" Sam screamed.

Gollum had apparently awoken, because he leapt by as fast as he could and jumped onto Frodo's back. Floating there, he felt for the index and grabbed it. Frodo suddenly reappeared, struck down to the ground, but not destroyed. He lunged at Gollum and tried to wrestle the index from his hand. There they struggled, until Gollum strayed precariously close to the edge of the platform and fell to his doom, very nearly taking Frodo with him. Both grunts heard his final words as he fell hundreds of feet into the mysterious light.

"PRECIOUS!" he wailed, his voice trailing down the shaft.

Little did the grunts know what the light really was. It was a matter creation device located beneath the library. When Gollum and the index entered into it, they were completely obliterated. When the index ceased to exist, it emitted a shock wave that caused the computers within the matter creator to malfunction. They began to endlessly pour molten slag into the pit, which began to fill up.

Frodo and Sam witnessed this and sprinted all the way back to the gondola, immediately pushing the button to exit the library. They could feel the heat rushing toward them. The gondola left the platform just as the slag raced into view, spilling down to the bottom of their corridor. The gondola just barely kept pace with the liquid metal, and began going down the vertical tunnel just as the slag began spilling over the edge. The resulting effect was a waterfall of fire; beautiful but deadly. The two grunts raced to the side of the gondola that was farthest from the dangerous material.

They thought they had finally reached safety when they exited from the library, but the opposite was true. Slag was pouring out of the library from every possible crack. Since the Gondola was floating, that was their only option of staying alive. The heat was becoming unbearable, though.

Sam looked out across Mordor. The immense heat of the library had vaporized all of the falling snow, and he could see Barad Dur clearly. It filled most of the landscape, being a large dome with the diameter of a small moon. They both saw the end of gravemind himself. Without the index, gravemind could not exist either. Since his flood form had grown around and consumed the chair he once used, there was still a slipspace generator inside of him. When the index's shockwave had reached this generator, it began to malfunction. Instead of teleporting him into slipspace, the generator self destructed, destroying gravemind and barad dur.

Frodo and Sam both saw this happen as a great white light consumed the city and faded to nothing. Where barad dur had been, now there was only a smoking crater. Their mission had been accomplished, and now the grunts would die in the product of their victory.

A combination of exhaustion, heat, and the knowledge that they would soon be dead conspired together to cause the grunts to fall into unconsciousness long before the could have seen the approaching Longsword fighters...


	15. Epilogue: Many Partings

**EPILOGUE - MANY PARTINGS**

After many many weeks abroad, the four Grunts were finally home in the Shire. Through thick and thin, they had persevered, and now went home to the reward of peace and prosperity.

The reminisced on Master Chief's coronation ceremony. Two things had happened there that were absolutely shocking. First, Master Chief had appeared without his armor on. It was the first time his face had been seen by anyone present. The second shocking thing that had happened was that Cortana had come to the ceremony. This would have been expected but for the fact that she was now human.

After the ceremony, an explanation was offered by Cortana to the Fellowship. Apparently she had devised a way to download herself into a blank flash clone. The clone looked like her original hologram because she had been constructed using the DNA of a certain Dr. Halsey. Now that she was in a human form, she would not have to worry about any sort of operational life span. She would now die of natural causes when her time came. She had given up her ability to interface with computers for the Chief.

And so four years passed. Frodo was unable to cope with the emptiness he had felt ever since he had been stabbed by the Nazgul king. All that he could do was leave for Earth. Cortana, because of her newfound love, gave up her place to Frodo.

And so Frodo left the Ring and came to live in the city of Valinor; a city of unequaled beauty and splendor on Earth.


End file.
